From where she sat, it didn't look like Lee was buying whatever Auggie was telling him, because he started shouting at the poor guy again. He must have said something about her, because suddenly Auggie glanced in her direction, shielding his eyes a bit. Spotting her, he flashed a big grin and waved cheerfully at her, as if Lee wasn't standing a mere few inches away ready to jump down his throat. Amanda acknowledged his wave by nodding her head at him and giving him a small wave back.

The next minute, Lee had once again claimed the other man's attention, grabbing him by the lapels of his tux and slamming him up against the limo. Auggie started talking so fast he barely stopped for breath. Something he said caught Lee's attention, because he eased his hands away from the guy.

Straightening to his full height, Auggie brushed the wrinkles from his lapels as he continued talking. When he was finished, Lee turned and started back toward the Corvette. However, something Auggie said drew his attention back. Lee looked like he was going to explode once again, but instead gave a resigned shrug. Reaching in his front pocket, he pulled out a small wad of bills, two of which he peeled off and handed to Auggie.

As he headed back toward her, Amanda heard him state, "This had best be on the level Auggie, that's all I can say. If it isn't, I'm gonna hunt you down and personally remove a few of your teeth."

His body language as he climbed back into the car and slammed the door bespoke of frustration, aggravation and resignation. For a moment he just sat in the drivers seat staring straight ahead. Amanda knew him well enough to realize that he was trying to get himself under control.

Finally, he started up the car and turned to face her. "I really hate to do this Amanda, but we need to make a another stop before we can go to dinner. Auggie swears there's some sort of major arms deal going down at 7:15 over in Rock Creek Park. Claimed he'd been looking all over town for me when he spotted us driving down the bypass. He was just following us to where we were going so he could tell me about it."

Raking his fingers through his hair, Lee let his disgust with the situation show on his face. "I think it's more like he was short of funds and figured he could make a quick buck by passing along some information. I don't know whether to believe him or not. Knowing Auggie, it's most likely a wild goose chase. The trouble is, if I don't at least check this out and it turns out to be true, it'll be my butt Smythe hangs out to dry."

Amanda nodded her understanding and reached over to place a comforting hand on his arm. "Better safe than sorry," she told him, letting him know by both her words and her touch that she understood the situation perfectly. "Let's go and get this done with. If it's nothing, then we still have time to go to dinner and if it's on the up and up, then we've done our job." She cocked her head to the side giving him an encouraging smile.

Lee grinned over at her, his ill humor ebbing away with her understanding. He had wanted this evening to be so special for her. He had carefully planned things out, wanting to be the one who made her feel special and now he was dragging her off on what could be a wild goose chase. So much for all his planning. Why was it that lately things never seemed to work out the way he wanted them to?

A short while later they were pulling into the entrance of Rock Creek Park. "Auggie said they were going to be meeting over by Boulder Bridge," Lee informed Amanda. He followed the winding road until they were just short of spotting the bridge, but within walking distance. Lee hurried around the car to open Amanda's door.

After giving her a hand out, he looked down at her, seeming to weigh his words. "I think the best way to play this is as if we are just a couple taking a stroll down the path toward the bridge. If we act like we're lost in each other, rather than paying attention to anything around us, we should be able to get close enough without spooking them. We can check it out and call for back up if it looks like anything is going down." Reaching back into the car, he grabbed a little portable two-way radio, tucking it in his back pocket.

Taking Amanda's hand in his, he started in a direction that would put them on the path crossing the bridge. As soon as they reached the path, he pulled Amanda up tight against him, wrapping his arm around her waist. "Are you sure this is necessary?" she questioned the lack of space between them, sliding her own arm around his waist. It wasn't that she minded the contact, exactly, it was just that being this close to Lee tended to do interesting things to her. She was hoping that he wouldn't notice her increased heartbeat, or her slight shortness of breath.

Lee knew that they could have portrayed a loving couple without the canned sardine closeness, but just couldn't resist an opportunity like this. They walked slowly toward the bridge, heads bent together, looking like a happy couple wrapped up in each other. As they came in sight of the bridge, Lee steered her to a near-by tree. Once there he leaned back against the tree and pulled her up close again, wrapping both arms around her waist. As he did so, his eyes began scanning the area around the bridge. Amanda played her part, placing her arms around his neck and leaning into him. She rested her head on his shoulder, also scanning the area with her eyes. "There's a guy on the other side of the bridge," she told him, "it looks like he might be waiting for something or someone."

Lee bent his head, apparently nuzzling her neck as he gazed in the direction she had mentioned. "Okay, I see him." He couldn't resist letting his lips brush lightly against the back of her neck. She stiffened slightly for a moment, and he wondered if she was going to reprimand him, but she relaxed again, letting the contact slide. "I spotted another man over in the brush just this side of the bridge." he told her. "Either he's just being cautious or our guy over there has brought some protection with him."

Amanda leaned back a little in Lee's arms so she could scan the area behind him. To anyone watching it would just look like she was gazing up into his eyes. Lee smiled at her. She was getting good at this cloak and dagger stuff. And he was definitely enjoying their current situation. Returning his smile, she once again leaned close, trying to keep her movements slow and natural. "There's another man standing back in the trees behind you. It looks like he's wearing a shoulder harness," she whispered. "I can see the edge of it sticking out of his jacket and he has his hand on something, I think you might be right about the guy bringing his own back up."

Lee nodded, once again leaning down, this time appearing to nuzzle the side of her neck as he whispered in her ear. "Look's like Auggie might have been right on the money this time. I think maybe we ought to call this in."

Letting go of Amanda, he straightened up and wrapping his arm around her waist, began to steer her back down the path the way they had come. "Let's put a bit of distance between us and them before we call Billy. . .Hello!" He had been keeping his head close to Amanda's, appearing to be deep in conversation, but all the while he had actually been scanning the area around them. He had just spotted a man with a briefcase walking quickly across the grass on a direct course to the bridge. "I think I see our man." Lee started walking a bit quicker. It looked like things would be going down at any moment and he wanted to get Amanda out of the line of fire. There wouldn't be time to notify Billy on this one.

As soon as they were out of sight of the bridge, Lee turned to Amanda, clasping both her upper arms for emphasis. "Look, Amanda," he said firmly,"I want you to get a hold of Billy and then go back to the car and wait for him there. Okay?" Taking the radio out of his pocket, he handed it to her.

Amanda looked up at him like he was out of his mind. "You can't go back there alone. There's at least four men involved and one of them has a gun. For all we know there could be more."

"Amanda, I don't have time to argue with you. Please, just do as you're told!" His desire to have her out of this and yet get back to see what was happening put a sharp edge on his voice. He could tell immediately that she didn't like his tone, but he didn't have time to fix things now. "Get going," he ordered, turning back in the direction of the bridge.

"Lee!" Amanda started to object, but whatever she was going to say was cut short by the sound of several gunshots ringing through the air. They both turned to look in the direction of the sound. "Wait here," Lee commanded as he turned to rush back to the bridge, leaving Amanda bristling with outrage.

To be cont.